1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to data processing systems, and more particularly, communication between data processing systems. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for communicating electronic documents between data processing systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
When using e-mail (electronic mail) to communicate, a user will typically construct a message using an e-mail application running on a computer (or other data processing system) that is or can be connected by a network to other computers. Typically, the user and the intended recipient(s) of the message each have an Internet e-mail address, which are included in the e-mail message. When the user has finished constructing the message, the user will xe2x80x9csendxe2x80x9d the message to the intended recipient(s). The message is then electronically transmitted via a computer network. Each recipient, also using an e-mail application running on a computer coupled to the computer network, can then receive and view the message.
A common computer network utilized to send and receive e-mail is the Internet. The Internet is a world-wide network of interlinked computer systems that all employ the transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) protocol suite. The Internet provides for electronic file transfer, remote login, e-mail, news and other services. Users frequently interact with the Internet via the World Wide Web (WWW), which is a hypertext-based system for locating and accessing Internet resources. Hypertext refers to specific content elements within a document that include links to other documents. A user retrieves information from the Web by invoking a browser, a client program that runs on a client computer, which allows a user to display documents retrieved from the Web.
There are a number of ways that a user can connect to the Internet to send and receive e-mail. One common method is to establish a dial-up account with an Internet service provider (ISP). Using a computer with a modem, the user dials the access number of the ISP to establish a connection with a computer coupled to the Internet. The user can utilize an e-mail program (e.g., Eudora, Microsoft Outlook, or the ISP proprietary interface) to send and receive e-mail over the Internet. Other methods for connecting to the Internet include ethernet, cable modem, and satellite connections.
It has become increasingly common to create, transmit, and display documents, including e-mail messages, in electronic form. Electronic documents have a number of advantages over paper documents. These advantages include the ease of transmission, compact storage, and the ability of the sender and recipients to edit and/or electronically manipulate the message. However, because of the flexible nature of electronic media, it is often difficult to present information to a reader in a structured fashion.
For example, authors of e-mail messages often present related or supporting information by providing a hypertext link to a web site that includes further information on a topic being presented to the audience to better support the author""s conclusions. However, there is no structured way to present the hypertext links in a document. Some readers may select the link(s) even before reading the accompanying explanatory text. Others may read the entire text and then may or may not select the hypertext link(s) supplied within the document. In each of these cases, the audience may be unable to understand the author""s work because the audience does not consider the linked information in the proper context in relation to the content of the message.
To overcome the foregoing and additional limitations in the prior art, the present invention provides a data processing system and method for constructing and viewing an electronic document. In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the data processing system includes a processor, a memory, an electronic document composer, and an electronic document viewer. Both the electronic document composer and the electronic document viewer are stored in the memory and executable by the processor.
The electronic document composer is utilized to construct a first electronic document including at least a normal element, a conditional element, and a link element. The link element is associated with a remotely stored second electronic document. The sender can also associate the conditional element with the link element.
The electronic document viewer is utilized to view electronic documents, such as the first electronic document. When a recipient initially invokes display of the first electronic document, only the normal and link elements are visible. As the recipient invokes display of a remotely stored second electronic document by selecting the link element, the conditional element related to the link element will then be displayed by the electronic document viewer.